The Perspective of a "First Time" Mama... for a Second Time

So it has only taken me about two weeks to get this post up, but I guess I have a valid excuse. Yes, Baby Reagan Mark Asmussen is finally here and just as perfect as can be! He was born on Tuesday, February 10th at 12:48pm and weighed 5 pounds and 11 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long. He is absolutely adorable and wonderful in every way! Here's a little update on how everything went:

Mark got back in from Midland on Monday night and we enjoyed the evening together. It was our last night with little Kolbe being the complete center of our attention! After Kolbe crashed, we enjoyed a big Blizzard from Dairy Queen since I knew I wouldn't be able to eat at all the next day. On Tuesday morning, we dropped Kolbe off at my cousin Mandi's house to play with her daughter, Shelby, and headed to the hospital.

From there, things went very quickly. We had several papers to sign, hospital bracelets to put on and various and sundry other unmentionable tasks to complete. The C-section was scheduled for noon and sure enough, right around noon they wheeled me down to the O.R. After sitting in the hall waiting for Dr. Owen for a little while, we were finally taken back to get started. My maternal-fetal specialist, Dr. Hales, also came and assisted with the surgery. Because all the doctors know that Mark is in P.A. School, they allowed him to be back in the room with me for the entire process...not just the actual delivery. In fact, the anesthesiologist walked Mark through the step by step process of completing a spinal block. I think he would have much rather been on the side of the bed that I was facing and holding my hand, but I think the doctor felt pretty cool being able to tell Mark how to do everything. As for the spinal, it really was not bad at all! Getting steroid injections in the wrist is actually much more painful.

Once the surgery started, I (of course) knew nothing of what was going on. I asked Mark if they had started to which he replied, "Uh, yeah. Some of your organs are sitting out on your belly." Lovely picture, huh. I was so excited the whole time and loved getting to hear everything that was going on and have Mark beside me. Within a few minutes I heard the amazingly beautiful sound of Little Reagan's first cry. I've cried many times in my life, but this was truly one of the first times that I've ever cried from complete joy. It was such a beautiful sound! The bed that they cleaned Reagan up on was just a few feet from my face. Mark was able to stand between Reagan and me and be with both of us. I could not take my eyes off of either of them! I knew it would only last a few minutes, so I wanted to take in every little face and expression from both of them. With Kolbe, I was unconscious and Mark was not even allowed in the room, so this was a completely new experience for me. It was beautiful and something I will never forget!

Within a few minutes, Mark brought Reagan over to me and held him close to my face. He was so beautiful! He looked just like Mark! Even though I couldn't hold him right then, it was the best feeling in the word to feel his soft skin up against mine. A few minutes later, I had to go to a recovery room for monitoring. While in surgery, my blood pressure continued to go up so they were watching me pretty closely. Once I was cleared to go to my room, they wheeled me back to postpartum and we got to stop at the nursery along the way so I could hold Reagan for the first time.

Of course, it wouldn't be an Asmussen delivery without a little complication! Once we were back in my room, the nurse continued to monitor my blood pressure every fifteen minutes. Although I was completely rested and not feeling any pain, my blood pressure continued to go up. It eventually got to the point where she would not tell me what it was because she thought it might make it go up even higher. When she told Mark and my mom not to leave me unattended in the room in case I had a seizure, I knew something was wrong. The nurse came back in and said that she spoke with Dr. Owen and that they were going to give me some type of medicine in my IV and that if it didn't take, they would have to take me back to labor and delivery and start me on a magnesium drip. Having remembered this from Kolbe's delivery, I began to get a little upset. I did NOT want to do that again, because I remembered how horrible it felt and knew that it would mean not being able to be with Reagan for a long while and not being able to nurse. Luckily, my body chickened out in its quest to be a little crazy and the medicine worked perfectly. Within 15 minutes, my blood pressure dropped from 186/107 to 128/86. Praise God! The nurse explained that even though I wasn't feeling pain, the trauma to my body probably forced it to go into shock, leading to the high blood pressure.

Shortly there after, they brought Reagan in to the room and he was able to nurse for the first time. Since then, he has truly been the perfect nurser! Most preemies have a hard time getting the hang of it, but Reagan has taken to eating like none other. It has been very rewarding for me since I spent 7 months pumping for Kolbe to eat from his special bottles.

The hospital standard is for C-section patients to stay for 3 days, so after a couple days of recovering and getting to know each other, Reagan and I were able to go home on Friday. Since being home, everything has gone great! Reagan was born the day after Kolbe turned 15 months old and so far Kolbe has taken to his new brother very well. Other than being a little jealous while I am nursing (that's of course when he wants me to get down on the floor and play) and a little "rough" when trying to hold Reagan, he has been the perfect big brother. He kisses Reagan on the head, pats his back when he's trying to burp, and loves to bring him toys. His (Kolbe's) sleep got a little off for a few days, but he's back on track and doing great. His favorite thing to do is throw away diapers!

Reagan is the kind of baby that any mom would dream of. He eats every 3 hours (not regulated by me...he literally is just like a little timer that goes off every 3 hours), he has only spit up maybe twice, he sleeps perfectly, and he just loves to look around and take everything in when he's awake. The only times he cries are when he's getting his diaper changed or to let me know he's getting hungry. When we left the hospital on the 13th, he weighed 5 pounds and 4 ounces. (It's normal for babies to lose a little weight in the week after they are born.) Yesterday he weighed 6 pounds and 5 ounces. That means he gained 1 pound and 1 ounce in just 10 days! Dr. Stripling said that most full term babies only gain a half of an ounce to an ounce per day and Reagan gained nearly two ounces per day. He said that was "remarkable" for a preemie! That's my boy! Guess the breastfeeding is working. It took poor little Kolbe two months to gain that much!

Hopefully you're not reading this and thinking Golly, all she's doing is going on and on about how Reagan is so much easier than Kolbe. While, yes, Reagan is certainly easier, I'm by no means saying that he's better. He's just completely different. Going in to Reagan's delivery, the only frame of reference that I had was raising a baby with clefts, reflux, hearing problems and prematurity issues, and the only delivery I had experienced was the extremely difficult and dangerous one I had with Kolbe. So, in other words, Reagan is probably pretty much just like any other new baby, it's just so different for Mark and me! And we couldn't be prouder of him! While our pride in Kolbe has so much to do with all he went through and the positive, happy attitude he has always had, we are proud of Reagan for being such an amazing, easy-going little fella! I think Aunt Abby had a pretty good perspective on it when she mentioned that God only gives us what we can handle, and she was sure that with raising a 15-month-old and a newborn, God probably knew I needed a perfect, easy little baby!!! Let's hope she's correct! Most of all, Mark and I just feel completely blessed to have Reagan home and healthy, a healthy delivery for me, and such a wonderful little family with TWO perfect little boys!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers! Here's a few pictures to enjoy!

"Hello, world!"

Daddy and Reagan Mark

Mama meets Reagan

So handsome for just a few hours old!

Mama gets to hold Reagan for the first time

First family picture as a family of four!

Reagan comes home and Kolbe is so excited!

Getting ready for Reagan's first sponge bath!

Probably the most beautiful picture in the world!

All I ever do is eat, sleep, and poop....

"While Mama can still grab the camera" (also known as "Kolbe Being Kolbe")

As fate would have it, we are excited to announce that TOMORROW our new little boy, Reagan Mark will be born! I went to a series of appointments this morning only to find that the same problems I was having in my pregnancy with Kolbe have re-emerged. Who would have thought!?! I've managed to make it TWO DAYS farther than I did in my pregnancy with Kolbe! Doh! While I'm of course disappointed that things aren't going to work out the way I hoped and dreamed, I'm glad we're "catching" this before it falls apart like last time. Even though I wanted a VBAC, I'd much rather have a SAFE and CONSCIOUS C-section than the nightmare that was Kolbe's delivery! We check in tomorrow at 10:00am and the surgery is scheduled for 12:00. We'll have another little preemie, but at least it will be safe for both him and me!

Over the past several weeks, I've been trying to reflect on the wonderful 15 months that we've spent with our little Kolbe. I began to realize that when Reagan arrives, I'm not going to be able to just grab the camera at any second and catch shots of Mr. Kolbe in action. I have a feeling my hands will definitely be full! So in an attempt to capture some of the wonderful moments that make Kolbe the perfect little charmer that he is, I've tried to have the camera on standby non-stop. I've managed to collect a few precious little moments of "Kolbe Being Kolbe." Every parent should be so lucky!

Ok, please pay no attention to the piles of laundry in the background! I swear it was laundry day! Kolbe LOVES shoes! Especially Daddy's shoes!

I've explained Kolbe's love of his red car in other posts, but this precious moment took it to an all new level! Kolbe stood by the kitchen cabinet begging for a cracker (ka-kuh!) to which I finally gave in. He managed to run off and within a minute or two, I began hearing the "radio" on his car go off repetitively. Each song only plays for about 10 seconds, but as soon as one song would end, I'd hear him start it start up again. I peeked in to the living room and there he was, lounging back with his delicious cracker hanging out his mouth enjoying some tunes. He's definitely too cool for school!

Mark shot this picture a few weekends ago. It was Kolbe's nap time and he fell asleep in my arms in his room. He was just so precious that I couldn't bear to put him down! Being exhausted and prego, I ended up crashing too. Probably one of the last times we'll have to cuddle with Reagan wedged between us!

Kolbe's newest obsession is books, books, and MORE BOOKS! A few mornings ago, he insisted on carrying one of his books to the kitchen table for breakfast. While I was warming up my English muffin, I looked over and there he was- bowl of cereal, sippy cup, and the "morning news"! How hilarious! He's like a little old man!

Did I mention that he loves books??? And pop-up books are even better!

And even better than that if someone reads to him! Look at that face!!! Is he handsome or what!?!

Beyond his love of books is his new found love of animals! He's totally animal crazy! Since his ear surgery he's been learning how to make all the various animal noises. It's so cute! Mark and my favorite is the "Cack, cack!" he does for the duck. This fun little fridge toy was given to us by Aunt Pam and Uncle Paul. It makes all the various noises and he just LOVES it!

Mama has definitely become a headband girl in the last few weeks of pregnancy. (lazy, I know). Kolbe has seen me put them on so many times that I guess he figured he'd try it out too. His looks more like a tennis player but at least he's got the concept!


Please pray for our little family for tomorrow! Soon these pictures will have TWO babies in them!

A SUPER Surprise!!!

No, despite the fact that I'm two days away from being 36 weeks and Mr. Kolbe was born the day I turned 36 weeks, the baby is NOT here yet! But I did receive a HUGE surprise this past weekend on Saturday in the form of an awesome surprise diaper shower!

I guess I've just been so consumed with trying to take care of myself through the end of this pregnancy and taking care of Kolbe that I didn't even imagine having a shower at all. Besides, showers are for first time Mamas, right!?! So apparently Abby, being the amazing sister-in-law that she is, was the original ring leader behind this entire operation and had been trying to plan it for months! She managed to wrangle in two of my co-workers and my cousin, Mandi to help out.

In order to keep it a secret from me, they got Mark to disguise the shower as a date for the two of us. About a week ago, Mark gave me this whole shpeel about "Well, for once, I don't have a test on Monday morning so I'll take a break from studying and lets go out to lunch on Saturday afternoon." Typically, since Mark doesn't get to see Kolbe all week either, we just take him wherever we go...even on "dates!" But on Friday night, we were all hanging out over at Popo's and Mark (in front of me) asked if anyone would be available to watch Kolbe for our date. Abby quickly volunteered but said she wouldn't be able to watch him until around 2pm because they had Raider Awakening stuff to do in the morning. Thinking nothing of it, I was just so excited that Mark and I were going on a real date! Things got even more exciting when the next morning Mark told me that he had made reservations at the restaurant for 2pm and started ironing an outfit to wear. Heck, if he was going to get dressed up, I guess I needed to too! Still completely naive to what was going on, I even called Abby shortly before 2:00 to make sure she was still on board to watch Kolbe and finished with her RA stuff!

As we arrived at Abby's house, I was chatting away with Mark and apparently paid no attention to all the cars lining the streets. Besides, it was the weekend anyway...someone was probably having a party or something... The only thing I noticed was Mandi's van in the driveway. I told Mark, "Oh, that's Mandi's van. She must be over here dropping something off or something." (since they're sisters-in-law) As soon as the front door opened and I saw the huge crowd of people, I was completely shocked and overwhelmed at what was going on! Being the hormonal, pregnant woman that I am, I immediately started bawling and couldn't stop! They TOTALLY got me! And usually I'm such a busy body that nothing gets past me! Honestly, I should allow myself to surprised more often. It was SOOO exciting and I was just totally overwhelmed that everyone had pulled together to make this so special for me. I felt completely unworthy and so blessed! (and still do!)

As for the shower, since Kolbe and Reagan are only going to be 15 months apart and Kolbe was in preemies for so long, I just assumed that we had absolutely all the clothes we need in exactly the right seasons and sizes, not to mention ridiculous amounts of toys and various other baby gear! So wisely, everyone pulled together and brought TONS of diapers and wipies for Baby Reagan! Not exaggerating, I think we tallied up over 1600 diapers and probably double the wipes! We are definitely set through the (possible) preemie, newborn, size one, AND size two phases of Reagan's life! What a HUGE blessing! This will help out SO much!!!

Thanks again to everyone who helped out with the shower or attended. It was honestly such a special and touching moment for me and just meant the world! See pictures below!

P.S. Since I didn't know to bring my camera, I didn't get any pictures of my own. If you happen to have any on yours from the shower, I'd be so grateful if you'd email them to me! Thanks!

Mark and me shortly after walking in and everyone screaming SURPRISE! (I was still crying, of course!)

Yummy!

The ADORABLE diaper cake that Abby and her sister, Jenny made! (I think Erin might have helped too!?!) Looks like I need to brush up on my domestic talents! Last thing I made was some hot chocolate this morning...

I finally stopped crying long enough get a good family picture before Mark ran at lightning speed from the girl packed event!

Long time, no post!

So I know, I know...it's been over a month...make that more like 6 weeks since I posted anything to our blog. But nothing happens in 6 weeks when you have a 14 month old and are pregnant, right!?! Ha! Actually, it has been a wonderful (but stressful at times) 6 weeks.

Around the middle of December, Mark returned home from Midland for a fabulous 4 week PA School break. It was much needed and much deserved! He stayed home with Kolbe while I finished up my last week at Lubbock National. It was certainly a bittersweet end to my "career" with the bank. I will certainly miss all of my co-workers greatly, but I am more than thrilled to get to stay home with my little Kolbe and get ready for Reagan. We also had to say goodbye to Miss Debbie, Kolbe's sitter for the past year. Yet another bittersweet moment! She was truly a God-send for our family and the amount of time and effort she put in to getting Kolbe through his first year will always be appreciated. We are forever greatful to her!

Kolbe and Miss Debbie and Mr. Jay on his last day!

The weekend before Christmas, we had a wonderful time celebrating with Mark's parents here in Lubbock. It was kind of sad not to get to meet up with the rest of his family (especially Uncle Brian) like we have in the past years, but it was wonderful to have an evening with the grandparents all to ourselves! Kolbe was totally pumped to get a brand new red wagon! (I must admit, I was certainly excited about it too! A two seater!) We had a great evening!

Celebrating Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma!

Going on a walk in the new red wagon with Daddy! Brrr! It was freezing that day in Lubbock!

The next day, Mark, Kolbe, and I packed up and headed to The Woodlands for a two week stay with my parents. This was a special event since all 4 of my brothers and their wives (for those who have one) were able to come as well. It was awesome to have our whole family back together! Who knows when that will happen again with so much changing these days! It was a great vacation filled with lots of football watching, way too much food, plenty of relaxing, and tons of love. About the only con was that the majority of us came down with a lovely case of the good ol' head cold and just passed it around from one person to the next. I guess when you have eleven people staying in one house, it's bound to happen. Kolbe was in hog heaven at "Pinkie and Pa's" house! There's so much to touch and get in to! Luckily, we only had one minor incident with the staircase. Good thing Kolbe is such a tough guy!

Uh-oh. Somebody doesn't like his Christmas pajamas! (actually, I don't think he liked the fact that it was about 10:30pm and he was still awake...)

Aw! Cheesy family Christmas pic...

Eating breakfast with Pa in their matching "Big Guy" and "Little Guy" sweatshirts...it's a long story...

Kolbe also had his follow up appointment at the Shriners Hospital in Houston from his surgery back in November. Dr. Blackwell said that everything is looking great and we don't have to come back for another check up for a whole year! Thank goodness! What a long journey!

This past Friday (January 16th), Kolbe finally had his ear tube surgery. Suffice to say, it was pretty much a non-event for him. We arrived at the hospital here in Lubbock at about 6:45am and were back at home by about 8:45am. The surgery took very little time at all and his recovery was a walk in the park. From the second we left the hospital, we never heard another squeak or squeal come out of him! Seriously! You would have thought he just went in for a round of shots or something. Glad that's over too! Now no more surgeries for a while! (unless it's me having the baby...) Kolbe has been an amazing child through all he's had to experience. We couldn't be prouder of this fella! He's still growing and changing more and more each day. (He has 9 teeth now, weighs just over 20 pounds and is 29 1/2 inches tall.) He loves to run, climb, read, play, and still loves to flirt!

Does this picture say 'busted' or what!?!

Trying out his new swing that Pinkie and Pa gave him for Christmas. Good thing he's strapped in!

Speaking of the baby, the pregnancy is moving right along. I'm 33 weeks now (man, how time flies!) and getting bigger every day. (I'm kind of kidding myself...I'm still not very big.) Because of my lupus and all the complications that happened with Kolbe, I'm having to go to one of my various doctors all the time now. Non-stress tests twice a week, OB visits once a week, sonograms every other week....it's exhausting. And to think there's a possibility of seven more weeks of this! Iick! (I'm still thinking the baby will be a little early, but we'll see.) I've included some pictures below of Baby Reagan. These are back on December 18th when I was only 29 weeks pregnant, so it's been about a month. Nobody thinks he looks much like Kolbe! He definitely has chubbier cheeks, that's for sure! I can't wait to see him face to face. I'm sure he'll be a doll just like his big brother!

Lovely double (or is that triple???) chin!

Check out how flexible I am! Yes, that's my foot to the left of my face...

Mr. Chubby Cheeks

Ok, that's all for now. More to come as the time is available.... Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed holiday season!

Kolbe gets a Haircut and a Thanksgiving with certain parts that we hope to forget!

Not this past weekend, but the weekend before, Mark and I took Kolbe to get his first haircut! Kolbe certainly didn't have a head full of hair or anything, but it was definitely starting to fill in making his original baby hairs really long. Some of them would even stick over the collar of his shirt! We took him up to the Sports Clips by our house to get a little trim and he did great! He sat on Mark's lap and didn't mind the clippers at all! He was so adorable! We can't believe how much he's turning in to a little boy! Check out the pics below!

Get ready, Little Boy! Here comes the clippers!

Hey! This isn't too bad!

Check out my new do!

This year for Thanksgiving we stayed in Lubbock and celebrated Thanksgiving with Mark's family. Thank God we didn't plan a trip or anything because all three of us came down with the stomach bug! Kolbe had it Tuesday...luckily he never threw up...just diapie problems! He ate like normal, wasn't running a fever or even acting sick at all so we thought it might be teething. But oh....Wednesday! I had a sonogram that morning to check on little Reagan and managed to leave Tuesday night's dinner at the doctor's office. We stopped by the bank so I could get a few things from my desk and they received a special Laura gift in the parking lot too! It was absolutely horrible! Lets just say that being pregnant and having the throw up bug is not a good combination. If only I could have convinced Reagan to take a nap for the entire day!!! I woke up Thursday morning feeling fantastic though, just to turn over to see Mark doubled over in pain. He got to suffer through it on Thanksgiving day and didn't even get to partake in any of the yummy food served up at Miss Lora's! While we're glad that it's finally gone from our family, we still feel pretty much horrible because we managed to pass it on to a good five or six other friends and family members! Our sincerest apologies go out to Brian, Andy, Krista, Shelby, Miss Debbie, Brookston and any one else who got to share in the delight! Oops! We swear we didn't know it was coming!!! It was still a wonderful Thanksgiving. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with family and just relaxing! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Here's to better luck with our bellies next year!

Kolbe's First Birthday!

First of all, sorry for having two posts on one day! As I'm sure you can imagine, things have been hectic with a major surgery, a trip to Houston, and a first birthday all in the same week! I figured I'd knock out all our updates in one evening!

Our precious little boy, Kolbe, celebrated his first birthday on Sunday, November 9th! Mark and I cannot believe that an entire year has passed!

Kolbe, what a special, amazing, wonderful, joyful, perfect year it has been with you!!! You came in to the world under the strangest of circumstances and have continued on in extraordinary ways. We never could have imagined what a fighter, what a flirt, what a wild man, what a sweetheart, and what a best friend you would turn out to be. Just as we always sing to you, you truly do make us happy when skies are grey! Your precious little face has made every hour of work, every minute of studying, every sleepless night, and every crazy moment so worth while! You are every parent's dream come true! The little boy any father would hope to raise, the precious baby any mother would dream of holding. We couldn't imagine this world without you and we thank you for blessing us with your beautiful first year of life!

Since we were still in Houston recovering from Kolbe's surgery on his actual birthday, we didn't celebrate until this past weekend. We had a small group of family and friends over to celebrate with Mr. Kolbe. With as crazy as he typically is, we assumed he'd be ready to tear up his birthday cake! Instead, he was so fascinated by the crowd gathered around his booster chair that he could have cared less about the ice cream and cake in front of him! Oh well! Saved us the mess and left us with a perfectly good, undestroyed cake! We had a wonderful time and Kolbe got a ton of wonderful gifts! (way more than he needs!) Thanks to everyone who got to come and help us celebrate as well as all of you who wished us well and prayed for us from afar! Your love and support throughout this first year has made the journey so enjoyable and worthwhile!

Happy Birthday, Little Boy!!!

Yes! It's the morning of my birthday party!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Check out my new prized possession! I love, love, LOVE my new red sport coupe! It's the BEST!

Kolbe's Second Surgery!

We're so happy to announce that Kolbe has officially made it through his second big surgery! Kolbe had his palate repair done on November 7th at the Shriner's Hospital in Houston. Just like his first surgery, it was quite the whirlwind experience. Kolbe and I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and spent the night with my parents. The next morning we headed to Shriner's for his pre-op appointment. They told us to be there by 10am and we arrived just in time to find out that his appointments didn't actually begin until 1pm. I was certainly a little peeved, but it gave my mom, my dad, and me a great opportunity to visit the brand new cathedral in down town Houston, visit a Catholic bookstore, and eat some good bar-b-que! Thursday evening we picked up Mark from the airport and spent another night at my parents.

The next morning we all arrived back at the hospital at 6am! We spent about an hour getting Kolbe ready and they took him back around 7am. Poor guy, he arrived all happy and cheerful and had no clue what he was about to go through! We were away from Kolbe for about three hours while the surgery took place. After everything was finished, Mark and I spent about an hour in the recovery room with Kolbe trying to wake him up and just comforting him. We were finally able to go back to our room around lunch time. The rest of the day and evening was spent just cuddling the poor little guy and trying to keep him comfortable. We received a special surprise visit from Uncle Mike and Aunt Casey who drove over from San Antonio! Kolbe even let Aunt Casey hold him and fell asleep on her shoulder which was rare for that day!

It was a LONG night in the hospital! Kolbe only wanted to be held by Mama....with one exception! The hospital had a big red wagon in the hall way that Kolbe LOVED! We piled it up with pillows and blankets and Mark spent hours (literally!) pulling him up and down the halls! We were released from the hospital the next morning around 10am and headed back to my parents. The first few days after the surgery were definitely tough as well. With Kolbe's first surgery, he couldn't put up much of a fight. This time around he had PLENTY to say concerning what we put him through! (actually, we tried our best to convince him that Uncle Pat did it and got away before he had a chance to see him! Ha ha!) Since Mark had to head back to Midland, my mom and dad did a fantastic job of helping me out with the little guy for a few days!

Now that we're back in Lubbock, Kolbe is doing great! It's amazing how quickly kids bounce back. He's back to eating all the foods he used to eat and is working on trying out his "new equipment." He definitely now has suction in his mouth although I don't think he knows exactly how to use it. He still tends to "chew" on his bottle to get the milk out instead of sucking. He'll get better at it though! The other big difference has been with his nose. Previously, any mucus would just go through his hole and down his throat. Now his entire breathing pattern is different. He's not liking it too much! I guess the hole had it's perks! BUT, on a positive note, we've all but abolished his giant collection of bibs! The uncontrollable drooling has vanished! Hallelujah! We're starting to work on his speech now too. His "voice" definitely sounds different now and I think it's just a matter of time before he starts experimenting with the sounds and words he's probably been wanting to say for months!

Speaking of speech, we also should see some additional improvement in the weeks to come as we begin preparing for his ear tubes surgery. We meet with the ENT on December 9th and then will probably move forward with the surgery around the beginning of January. (hopefully before Mark goes back to school!) This surgery should definitely help with the hearing and structural problems in his left ear. We'll keep you posted on how Surgery #3 is shaping up!

Thanks again to everyone for all of the prayers and support for our little fella! He came through with flying colors! Two major surgeries before even reaching his first birthday!!! What a trooper! Mark and I couldn't be prouder of the little guy we've been blessed with! As always, we find ourselves asking, "How did two goons like us get picked to be the parents of this AMAZING little boy!?!" We pray that each of you find yourself just as blessed!!!

Here are a few pictures from the surgery:



At the pre-op appointment, we took Kolbe out on the huge playground that they had out on the balcony. He had a BLAST!!! Note: his last day to rock his signature bib!!!

This was on the morning of the surgery just after getting him dressed in his hospital gown. Our usual happy little boy! Poor guy! He has no clue what's about to happen to him!!!

This was taken just after getting back to his room at the hospital. The long black string coming out of his mouth was actually threaded through his tongue. (Yes, my son had his tongue pierced before his first birthday! Yikes!!!) Because of all the swelling in his mouth, this was done as a safety precaution so that if his oxygen level dropped and he was having trouble breathing, all they had to do was pull the string and it would draw his tongue out of his mouth, opening his airways. We were able to take it out by early evening the night of the surgery.

Thank God for the wagon and thank God for Daddy! This was our saving grace throughout the long first night with his new mouth. We definitely put some mileage on that wagon and Daddy definitely got his exercise!!!